Apr. 25, 2013
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by Brian Mansfield, USA TODAY

by Brian Mansfield, USA TODAY

Is Kree Harrison in danger of going home tonight? How about Amber Holcomb? Will Candice Glover and Angie Miller's performances propel them into the American Idol finale? And what's the twist Ryan Seacrest promised at the end of Wednesday's show? Tune in as the Top Four learn their fate, then share your thoughts here -- Brian Mansfield

Ryan Seacrest is such a tease: "In just a bit, I will announce some shocking news that will affect the judges and turn the competition upside down." I don't know what it is, but I have a feeling it'll mean an extra week of competition. 'Cause on the track the competition's on right now, the American Idol season will end on May 9 -- and we all know the finale is scheduled for May 16.

Before that, though, we'll get treated to footage from the trip the "Fantastic Four" took to a Children's Hospital Los Angeles, which included a mini-concert. "We had so much fun," says Kree Harrison. "I don't think they were having as much fun as we were having."

Tonight, the girls sing Alicia Keys' Girl on Fire, with Angie Miller starting the song at the piano before taking to center stage with Harrison, Candice Glover and Amber Holcomb.

***

Amber and Candice, or Angie and Kree?

Amber and Candice are the Bottom. Angie and Kree are safe.

But who's in real danger?

Next week's theme, by the way, will be Now and Then. And all four will return to sing.

'Let me explain," Seacrest says. The show has built an extra week into its schedule since instituting the judges' save. So when the judges didn't use their save last week, they had to do something to stay on track. Ergo, everybody comes back next week. But the votes won't be wasted, Seacrest promises.

"Next Thursday, we'll take your over 38 million votes" from Wednesday and combine them with next week's vote total to eliminate one singer, he says.

"Tonight, it's all celebration and good news. ... The ladies are all safe tonight!"

***

Finally, it's time to hear about Angie Miller's performances. The judges, you may recall, flipped.

"Angie won the night, hands down" with two great songs and two great performances, Iovine says. She looks a little bit "in her head" when she stands, but she'll grow into that. She looks more natural behind the piano, he thinks, and if she stays there, she just might win.

To keep her momentum, Mariah Carey says, Miller should "stick with" the piano and "keep being angelic, the way you are."

Ryan Seacrest will form two groups of two -- the top two and the bottom two. Amber Holcomb and Angie Miller are in different groups. Kree Harrison's with Miller, and Candice Glover's with Holcomb. "Who goes where?" Seacrest wonders, before tossing to commercial.

***

Drake joins the judges at their table, and ninth-season winner Lee DeWyze comes back to Idol to perform new single Silver Lining. He's married now, having met his wife after Idol on a video set. "She's been, like, the biggest supporter," he says.

The new album, he says, is "about finding hope when you think there isn't any."

The new single is a country-folk song that's built, dynamically, a lot like Phillip Phillips' Home, especially its big sing-along chorus.

***

Next under Jimmy Iovine's microscope, it's Candice Glover.

"Big voices are difficult to maintain," Iovine says. "She needs to protect that voice. Speak less. Just focus on the contests." He really believes in her, but now is not the time to back up but move forward. Oh, and he thinks Nicki Minaj is sweet on him.

Is this a mutual crush, Ryan Seacrest wonders? "I didn't want to tell the world," Minaj says. "I was kind of waiting till Idol was over to reveal that my new sugar daddy is Jimmy Iovine."

Drake, by the way, was at home Wednesday watching Glover sing Find Your Love and he left her a message: "I was honored that you sang my song and you did such an amazing job," he says. "You have an angelic voice." Oh, and he's really on-site. He comes out and gives her a big hug.

"Kree needed to redeem herself after that mid-tempo blues song," Iovine says. Everybody but Keith Urban though she did. And Iovine agrees with Urban. If anybody thinks otherwise, he says, "They're wrong. It's absurd! To have a great performance, you have to have a great song." There's a reason Procol Harum was a one-hit wonder, he says: People realized their songs sucked.

Now it's time to hear from Stefano, who signed to Hollywood Records after finished seventh on Idol's 10th season. He's got a new album due this summer. He's singing Yes to Love -- and looking forward to singing it to four female contestants and two female judges. What a hound.

Yes to Love is a nice song, but hardly a great one. Stefano still tends to close his eyes when he sings. And the best part of the performance comes when he lets loose with a stratospheric high note near the song's end, then does a few runs before finishing.

***

This week's Ford mission has the four singers hanging with Ryan Seacrest for the day -- at least that's the day. He's actually one step ahead of them: Every time they show up somewhere, he has apparently just left. Yet he seems to be everywhere. It's almost like there's more than one of him. (Oh, wait, there is.)

Next, there's a new segment where the Idols have to reveal five things people don't know about them in 20 seconds.

Miller hates the color pink. She lives in heels. She loves to eat olives.

Glover loves Spongebob Squarepants and can't sleep without socks on. She loves Drake and purple. But we knew that about Drake.

Harrison's been bitten by a snake. She loves. And she sucks. (Seriously, that's what she said.)

Holcomb likes showers, not baths. And 90-degree weather. Was on drill team. Was in a play. Loves neon green. And there's a bonus: She's got a pierced septum!

So Holcomb wins! But how about the big contest? And what did Jimmy Iovine really think about her?

He thinks she did a great job on The Power of Love. But choosing MacArthur Park was an entirely different matter. Neither Iovine nor Holcomb know what that song's about -- and you can't sing what you don't understand. "If America agrees with me -- she's in trouble!"

Coming up after the break, Stefano's returns to perform his new single!